Virtual schools are multiplying, but some question their educational value

[reACTIONary]

Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virtual-schools-are-multiplying-but-some-question-their-educational-value/2011/11/22/gIQANUzkzN_story.html

A Virginia company leading a national movement to replace classrooms with computers — in which children as young as 5 can learn at home at taxpayer expense — is facing a backlash from critics who are questioning its funding, quality and oversight....

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“For many kids, the local school doesn’t work,” said Ronald J. Packard, chief executive and founder of K12. “And now, technology allows us to give that child a choice. It’s about educational liberty.” ...

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“This would appear to make it possible to go from kindergarten through eighth grade without ever stepping into a real classroom,” David M. Foster said. “I’m not sure I want to encourage that. . . . Collaborative problem solving, socialization, working with other people is key not just to the global economy but to getting along in life.”

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On measures widely used to judge all public schools, such as state test scores and graduation rates, virtual schools — often run as charter schools — tend to perform worse than their brick-and-mortar counterparts.

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[XanaDUer]

2. To me, this stuff should augment education

this seems just a way to get rid of teachers/librarians/ etc.

So, why does the local school not work?

[HockeyMom]

3. One parent will HAVE to stay home with a 5, or even 10,or B year old

Is this really any different than homeschooling? Sounds to me like more FOR PROFIT business. Yes, you are right about the Charter Schools. They are complaining, here in Florida, that they are getting all the FAILING students which is resulting in their schools being rated as "F". Well, hello? Why would an A or B student in a public school go to a Charter School?

[Butch350]

6. No!

You hire an unemployeed school teacher to babysit.

[Tutankhamun]

4. Here's an idea: The Educational Honor System.

We allow students and/or their parents to waive any form of education so long as the student can pass standardized tests. In addition, we do away with standardized testing in the classroom, replacing it with the honor system, in which parents administer tests at home and write their children's score on a form and send it in to the state for evaluation. Parents whose children pass the tests will receive a cash "academic achievement award" equal to the cost of educating their child in a classroom for a year. That's it!

"It's about educational liberty," said Ronald J. McDonald, president of McEducate, a forward-looking educational trendsetting firm...


Please nobody make me post the sarcasm tag.

[bemildred]

5. I like it, as long as they are very, very cheap too. nt

[elehhhhna]

7. Bll the gambler Bennett is a founder/owner, iirc

[reACTIONary]

8. You recall correctly. He was on the board of directors. It is mentioned in the article. (nt)

[AdHocSolver]

9. Computerizing education only exacerbates the faults of current educational practices.

The problem with education in the U.S. is that it is organized like a factory assembly line in which the student is treated like a container into which "facts" are dumped.

Replacing teachers with computers will be even more mind numbing, and produce even more subservient unquestioning little robots than the current system.

This is what the corporatocracy wants, but I think it represents a big step backwards for producing an intelligent and democratic populace.

Corporations that encourage (or force) their customers to interact with them through a computer, use the computer as a gate keeper to force you to interact with them on their terms. Computers are limited in what they can do, and can be (and often are) programmed to frustrate the public. There is no way to win an argument with a computer.

If you don't think much of No Child Left Behind and Teaching to the Test, this is all that computerized education allows for.

If you don't see the negatives in totally computerized education, just think about how well our elections work out with computerized vote counting using secret proprietary computer software.